Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a piping bag with a round nozzle (1cm diameter)
Place all of the ingredients for almond paste in the bowl of a food mixer and mix on low/medium speed until it forms a smooth paste.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a small baking dish with parchment paper and pour in caster sugar. Heat it in the oven for 7 Minutes.
Meanwhile, place egg whites into a mixer bowl and whisk on low speed until foamy, then increase speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add heated sugar whisking it back to stiff peaks before adding more. Add food colouring and fold to combine.
Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the almond base, mixing gently with a spatula until fully incorporated before adding more.
Transfer macaron batter to a piping bag and pipe 4.5cm rounds onto a lined baking tray. Set aside to rest at room temperature for 30-60minutes to allow a dry skin to form.
Preheat the oven to 130°C. Bake macaron shells for 17-18 Minutes – they should be just starting to peel off the paper. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan & filling.
To make the buttercream place egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk by hand to combine.
Place over a pan with simmering water and heat while whisking continuously until sugar has melted and mixture has reached 71 °C.
Carefully transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and whisk on high speed until light and fluffy.
Gradually add butter — one cube at a time — making sure it’s incorporated before adding more. Mixture will look curdled once you’ve added all of the butter, but keep whisking on high speed and it will come back together.
Finally, add vanilla bean paste and mix to combine. You can add food colouring at this stage, if desired.
When macaron shells have cooled, gently peel them off the parchment paper and pair up ready for filling.
If using lemon curd, pipe buttercream into the shape of a nest on one half of the shell, then add lemon curd in the middle and sandwich together with the remaining plain halves, pressing down gently so that the buttercream just spreads to the edges.
If you’d like to skip the lemon curd, pipe vanilla buttercream on one half of the shell then sandwich together with the remaining plain halves, pressing down gently so that the buttercream just spreads to the edges.
Ingredients
Directions
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a piping bag with a round nozzle (1cm diameter)
Place all of the ingredients for almond paste in the bowl of a food mixer and mix on low/medium speed until it forms a smooth paste.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Line a small baking dish with parchment paper and pour in caster sugar. Heat it in the oven for 7 Minutes.
Meanwhile, place egg whites into a mixer bowl and whisk on low speed until foamy, then increase speed to high and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add heated sugar whisking it back to stiff peaks before adding more. Add food colouring and fold to combine.
Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the almond base, mixing gently with a spatula until fully incorporated before adding more.
Transfer macaron batter to a piping bag and pipe 4.5cm rounds onto a lined baking tray. Set aside to rest at room temperature for 30-60minutes to allow a dry skin to form.
Preheat the oven to 130°C. Bake macaron shells for 17-18 Minutes – they should be just starting to peel off the paper. Allow to cool completely before removing from the pan & filling.
To make the buttercream place egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk by hand to combine.
Place over a pan with simmering water and heat while whisking continuously until sugar has melted and mixture has reached 71 °C.
Carefully transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and whisk on high speed until light and fluffy.
Gradually add butter — one cube at a time — making sure it’s incorporated before adding more. Mixture will look curdled once you’ve added all of the butter, but keep whisking on high speed and it will come back together.
Finally, add vanilla bean paste and mix to combine. You can add food colouring at this stage, if desired.
When macaron shells have cooled, gently peel them off the parchment paper and pair up ready for filling.
If using lemon curd, pipe buttercream into the shape of a nest on one half of the shell, then add lemon curd in the middle and sandwich together with the remaining plain halves, pressing down gently so that the buttercream just spreads to the edges.
If you’d like to skip the lemon curd, pipe vanilla buttercream on one half of the shell then sandwich together with the remaining plain halves, pressing down gently so that the buttercream just spreads to the edges.